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Robot and Monster Dodgers
Robot and Monster Dodgers is an American animated television series created by Alejandro Garcia for Nickelodeon. The series Follows the adventures of Robot Default and Monster Krumholtz and various friends in the fictional city of FenderTown. However, there days get interrupted by Ursula. Nickelodeon contacted Alejandro Garcia about pitching ideas for an animated series for their older demographic and Robot and Monster Dodgers was pitched. In Garcia's words "it went from pitch to series without hardly any waiting". The show originally ran on Nickelodeon from August 16, 2000 to September 8, 2007. While initial reception for the first season was mixed, it would receive critical acclaim by its second season, with praise primarily directed at its humor, writing, animation, art-style and the way it pushed the boundaries of what was considered acceptable on children's television. Robot and Monster Dodgers has often been listed as one of Nickelodeon's best shows. The series won an Annie Award, an Emmy Award and a World Animation Celebration Award, and received nominations for six additional Annie Awards and a Golden Reel Award. It has spawned a plethora of official merchandise including: a tie-in comic book series, video games, calendars, clothes and figurines among many other products. It has been regarded as a cult classic. Premise The series centers on the surreal adventures and antics of three characters: Robot and Monster. They live together as relatives, and rarely get along with their neighbor Leonard. The protagonists also interact with various villains or other individuals in each episode; these interactions are often restricted to one episode, with minor characters rarely reappearing in following episodes. Some episodes feature the protagonists interacting with celebrities, historical figures, or professional athletes. Characters Main article: List of Robot and Monster Dodgers characters * Robot Default (Curtis Armstrong) is an orange robot and is the Quality Control Inspector at the Blinking Light Factory. Robot always feels like the world is trying to keep him down, even his know-it-all brother Gart does not help at all. Luckily, after meeting Monster, who believes in him all the way, Robot is now best friends with Monster. He is the smarter, more cunning of the duo. He frequently tries to make devices, usually without success. He and Monster had been friends since they were kids, despite Monster being warned to stay away from him and his dangerous inventions. * Monster Krumholtz (Harland Williams) is a purple minotaur-like monster Monster is the eternal optimist living by the motto that "Good things happen to good people," and that all people are good. Monster is an extremely outgoing Organic that is endlessly fascinated by the little things in life. Monster is driven to make everyone happy, and the need to explore the "shiny thing." But because of Monster's fascination with the world, he is very gullible. Unlike Robot, Monster feels like everything goes his way, although it does not, making him a very good friend to have around. * Leonard (Bill Hader) is the third wheel of Robot and Monster Dodgers' friendship. He has a big obsession for Robot and Monster and the flock, which creeps out and annoys them to no end. He constantly tries to involve himself in the duo's doings, and just cannot seem to grasp that he is not part of the team. Leonard has been known to survive near death experiences. * Ursula (Pat Caroll) is the main antagonist. Recurring * Perry (Maurice LaMarche) is a robot co-worker of Robot and Monster's. He always has a smile on his face. * J.D. (Megan Hilty) is a cool, rebellious biker chick whose best friend is her equally hip robotic bike Spitfire. Robot, Monster and nearly every guy at the Makin' Bacon have a huge crush on her. * Spitfire (Cree Summer) is JD's equally hip robotic bike. They are inseparable best friends and regulars at the local bacon joint, Makin' Bacon. JD can be hot-headed at times while Spitfire is more rational and willing to avoid fights. Spitfire can be bossy, as stated in "Biker Girls". Robot has shown slight interest in Spitfire before. * Gart Default (Maurice LaMarche) is Robot's arrogant, overbearing older brother. He is a narcissist and is always taunting Robot. He runs their family's Blinking Light factory. He is gold tinted, is shinier than Robot, has six wheels for feet, while Robot has four, and has actual hands as opposed to Robot's claws. * Nessie (Rhea Perlman) is the six-tentacled owner and manager of the Makin' Bacon. * Crikey (Nolan North) is a robot who speaks in a Cockney accent. He also has an identical cousin named Blimey and usually torments Robot & Monster and gets beaten up by J.D. and Spitfire in a few episodes. * Mr. Wheelie (Kurtwood Smith) is Robot and Monster's landlord with a big blue head and bicycle wheels for feet. He threatens to kick Robot and Monster out of their apartment if he finds their pet Marf, since pets are not allowed. * Master Grabmirist (Ping Wu) is a Sensei who meets up with Robot & Monster whenever they need help. * Hal Worth-a-ton (Nolan North) is a Texan-accented salesman who lies about his products on the tube. * Pendulum Depot (Nolan North) is a Mechanical who owns the Solid Light Factory and is the main rival to the Defaults and their Blinking Light Factory. He plans on stealing the Default's Blinking Light Formula, and make them out of business. He usually carries around a rocket umbrella for show. * Arpa Default (April Winchell) is Gart and Robot's mother whose arrogance Gart takes after. * Grandma Default (April Winchell) is Gart and Robot's grandmother and Arpa's mother, a cranky family member who speaks computer binary (says only "one" and "zero") and hates Organics. * Gizmo Default (Alan Tudyk) is Robot's crazy cousin who talks to imaginary people and is considered an embarrassment to the Default family. * Uncle Kuffley Krumholtz (Nolan North) is Monster's loud-mouth uncle who is a police officer and a teacher of the Traffic Walking School. * Globitha Krumholtz (Cree Summer) is Monster's hyperactive child sister who has a large (and annoying) affection towards Robot (Much to Monster's jealousy). Still, Monster shows her his affection/empathy. Robot does not want her to help him with inventions because she ruins everything she touches. * Lev Krumholtz (Bill Fagerbakke) is Monster's dad whose horns are bigger than him. His horns make him talented but are revealed to be false in "Hornica". * Lucy (Jennifer Cody) is a Mechanical who is Robot's long-time rival. To outsmart Robot in a contest to make a two-color blinking light, she befriended Ogo so she can use his brain as a processor chip to power the blinking light in "Ogo's Friend". She always denies Robot's existence, saying that she has no idea who he is. * The Prince of Scamtown (Fred Tatasciore) is a Mechanical who is of royal descent. He is generous despite his name. In "The Prince of Scamtown", Robot does not believe he is an actual prince although Monster does. * Loudmouth (Maurice LaMarche) is a tiny but very angry Mechanical who is one of Robot and Monster's co-workers at the Blinking Lights Factory. * Snap Winsome (Jeff Bennett) is an Organic and the host of various shows such as That's Amazing! and Ow! That Hurts!. * Bea Holder (Harriet Sansom Harris) is a cycloptic Organic who is a trendsetter. * Howly (Maurice LaMarche) is a cyber monkey that flies into rage when having photos taken. * Lil' Lugnuts (Nolan North) is an Organic and was Monster's idol until Robot found that Lil' Lugnuts was actually a criminal. * Katie (Carol Ann Susi) is a mechanical lady, and the owner of Narf. She finds Robot and Monster to be annoying, and thinks Marf is a stupid name. * Chuck (Josh Gad) is a canary who lives in the city, He is Silver's older brother. * Silver (Rachel Bloom) is a gala-like falcon who lives with Chuck, She is Chuck's younger sister. * Red (Jason Sudeikis) is a cardinal who loves Silver very much. * Bomb (Danny McBride) is a loon who hangs out with his flock friends. Production Conception and early development The television network Nickelodeon expressed a strong desire in the mid-1990s for Alejandro Garcia to create a new series, and he began conceiving Robot and Monster Dodgers ''during this period. In 1997, he enlisted Chris Melendandri, a director for ''Pikmin, to assist in developing the show. The two spent time researching science fiction books, television shows, and films. When they pitched the series to Nickelodeon in April 1999, Garcia and Melendandri had composed many characters and story lines; Garcia claimed they had gone "overboard" in their discussions. Garcia described trying to get the show on the air as "by far the worst experience of my grown-up life". Animation Rough Draft Studios animated Robot and Monster Dodgers. The studio would receive the completed script of an episode and create a storyboard consisting of more than 100 drawings. It would then produce a pencil-drawn animatic with 1,000 frames. Rough Draft's sister studio in South Korea would render the 30,000-frame finished episode. Executive producers Garcia and Melendandri served as executive producers and showrunners during the show's run, and also functioned as creative consultants. Writing The planning for each episode began with a table meeting of writers, who discussed the plot ideas as a group. The writers are given index cards with plot points that they are required to use as the center of activity in each episode. A single staff writer wrote an outline and then produced a script. Once the first draft of a script was finished, the writers and executive producers called in the actors for a table read. After this script reading, the writers collaborated to rewrite the script as a group before sending it to the animation team. At this point the voice recording was also started and the script was out of the writers' hands. Episodes Main article: List of Robot and Monster Dodgers episodes Reception Critical reception While initial reception for the first season was mixed, it would receive critical acclaim by its second season. The Hollywood Reporter's Marilyn Moss praised the show’s intentions to encourage exercise, calling it "great fun for the very young set, not to mention educational, maybe even life-changing."42 Justin New of The Washington Times called Robot and Monster Dodgers ''"a great show". The program has been noted for its appeal towards multiple age groups. In 2005, ''The Boston Globe stated that the program "has sparked a cult of healthy living among a certain set and has a grown-up following, too."46 Lynne Heffley of the Los Angeles Times stated that R&M Dodgers "has zany appeal, even to viewers who are no longer 'junior.'" Ratings The week of Robot and Monster Dodgers's debut on Nickelodeon in the United States was the channel's highest-rated premiere week in three years. Success Robot and Monster Dodgers allowed the writers and animators to get ahead of the broadcast schedule so that episodes intended for one season were not aired until the following season. By the beginning of the fourth broadcast season, all the episodes to be aired that season had already been completed and writers were working at least a year in advance. More coming soon! Awards and nominations Comings soon! Other honors * In January 2009, IGN named Robot and Monster Dodgers ''as the eighth best in the "Top 100 Animated TV Series". * At the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International, Guinness World Records presented ''Robot and Monster Dodgers ''with the record for "Current Most Critically Acclaimed Animated Series". * In 2016, ''Rolling Stone ranked it as the thirtieth best animated television show ever. Criticism, controversy, concerns and influences Robot and Monster did not wear seat belts in the first two seasons. After receiving several complaints, Astley Baker Davies announced that all future animation would include characters wearing seat belts, and that the relevant scenes in the first two series would be re-animated to include them.12 Similar changes were also made to early episodes with characters riding bicycles to add cycle helmets, which were not included in the original versions.13 In 2002, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation received a complaint that the episode "Mister Skinnylegs" was not appropriate for Australian audiences, since it encouraged befriending spiders. Given the toxicity of some common Australian spiders, the complaint was upheld and the episode was restricted from being aired on the ABC’s television networks. In late May 2004, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Mark Scott expressed fears about the future of Robot and Monster on Australian television, given Australian federal budget cuts to ABC funding that were said to affect its ability to pay for, and broadcast, overseas media products such as Robot and Monster Dodgers. Australian media noted the character's appeal to Australian toddlers and echoed concerns about the future of her Australian distribution rights. Australian Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce made reference to the character as a menu item at a Thai restaurant, while conservative columnist Piers Akerman thought that Robot and Monster "pushes a weird feminist line".15 On 28 May 2014, then-Minister for Communications Malcolm Turnbull quelled fears about the future of Robot and Monster Dodgers on Australian TV, by tweeting that: "Contrary to media rumours, Robot's is one snout we are happy to have in the ABC trough".16 During September 2005, the cartoon once again entered the realm of political parody, as commentators referenced it when making light of the supposed Piggate scandal revolving around David Cameron.17 Earlier in 2015, former UK health minister Norman Lamb said that programmes such as Robot and Monster Dodgers should include gay characters, because having arbitrary boundaries as to what relationships are acceptable in children's television was "not equitable". Impact Coming soon! Merchandise Mattel produced a series of Robot and Monster Dodgers action figures in fall 2001. They each stand approximately 4 inches (10 cm) tall and include an action feature. Other products based on the cartoon include Fleer trading cards, books, plush toys, pens, hats, backpacks, notepads, cups, gum, and more. A calendar for the show, Robot and Monster Dodgers 2004 Calendar has been released. Merchandise based on the series are sold exclusively at Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, Sears, Macy's, and several other retailers. They include clothing (such as pajamas49 and tee shirts), bags (tote bags, backpacks, etc.), bedding collection, and toys. Video games Various companies released Robot and Monster Dodgers games. * Robot and Monster Dodgers (GBA) – released, November 13, 2002 * Robot and Monster Dodgers 2 (GBA) – released, September 15, 2004 * Robot and Monster Dodgers: Machine Madness (PS2, Xbox, GameCube, GBA) – released, August 21, 2005 * Robot and Monster Dodgers: On Duty (DS) – released, November 9, 2005 * Robot and Monster Dodgers: Ursula the Divine (PS2, Xbox, GameCube, GBA) – released, May 16, 2006 * Robot and Monster Dodgers: Monster the Brave (PS2, GameCube, GBA, DS) – released, October 19, 2006 * Robot and Monster Dodgers: The Room of Doom (DS) – released, February 9, 2007 Category:TV Shows Category:EvanRocks Wiki